PM Modi To Visit Russia For The Informal Summit On May 21st, Big Focus On Defence Deals

After meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping at Wuhan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will now be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 21st for an informal summit at Sochi, located on the coast of Black Sea in Krasnodar Krai province. Both India and Russia have defence projects worth over $12 billion hanging in balance due to the new US sanctions that seek to restrain countries from buying weapon systems from Russia.

Though the meeting between Modi and Putin will aim at addressing issues on international matters and exchanging views on the long-term bilateral relationship between the two countries, it will also address key defence deals that has been impending since a long time now. A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs read that the meeting will be an important occasion for both the leaders to further strengthen the privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia. The foundation for the meeting has already been set by Ajit Doval, National Security Adviser and Vijay Gokhale, Foreign Secretary. The two senior officials had visited Russia last week and had held talks with the Russian Foreign Minister. Read More